India A’s tour of Australia got off to a horrendous start in Mackay on Thursday, when the two uncapped players picked for the Border Gavaskar Trophy — Abhimanyu Easwaran and Nitish Kumar Reddy — failed to impress on the first morning of their four-day match against Australia A at the Great Barrier Reef Arena.
Australia A won the toss and opted to bowl, and right-arm fast bowler Jordan Buckingham sent openers Easwaran and Ruturaj Gaikwad back in the pavilion for 7 and a golden duck respectively, before his fellow pacer Brendan Doggett tore open the Indian line-up with a five-wicket spell.
Easwaran has been picked as a back-up opener for the five-Test series against Australia beginning in Perth on November 22.
Sai Sudharsan (21) looked to have got his eye in but Doggett ended his stay, before also accounting for Ishan Kishan (9) who is trying to impress the BCCI selectors to make his way back into the Indian team.
While Devdutt Padikkal was looking solid at one end, he saw Baba Indrajith (9) falling to Australia’s Test off-spinner Todd Murphy before Kishan came in.
The match is also a screen-test for all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy who is among the all-rounders picked for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, but he too had a forgettable outing — dismissed for a six-ball duck by Doggett.
The fall of Padikkal (36) made it 78 for 6. It was Doggett’s fourth wicket of the day. The paceman soon made it five when he struck Manav Suthar (1) in front.
At the time this report was published, India A were reeling at 86 for 8.